Engadget reports that Fujitsu has announced that their quantum dot laser technology is able to transfer data at 25Gbps (gigabits per second). If you're wondering what a 'quantum dot' is, you aren't alone. Simply put, a quantum dot is a type of semiconductor. A semiconductor is an electrical component that only allows a certain level of current to pass through it, and that value is generally inflexible once the semiconductor is built. Quantum dots expand on the idea of a semiconductor, and allow the threshold value to be flexible even in the finished product. This functionality comes as a result of certain properties of quantum mechanics and the tiny size of the 'dots'. More detailed information can be found at Evident Technologies, a quantum dot manufacturer.
Fujitsu was able to use this technology to make a data pipe with a aforementioned 25Gbps speed. While this isn't record-breaking - 1.2Tbps (that's terabit per second) speeds have been achieved by researchers using lasers in open air, and 15.5Tbps has been reached in labs using layered optical lines - Fujitsu's solution may actually be practical. The IEEE's announcement of the new 100Gbps standard, which is supposed to happen sometime this year, would work very well with four of these devices working in tandem. Right now, they are leading the competition in price and efficiency, and all it would take for early adopter to grab on to the speed would be to lay some extra fiber. Even if the technology isn't picked for enterprise data networks, expect it to be deployed on smaller scales in the form of displays and hard drives.
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